Zwane, who last week was appointed to the Senate by the king,
was elected Senate president unopposed. This will be the third term that Zwane
has served as Senate President.

Ngomuyayona Gamedze was also elected unopposed as Deputy
President. Gamedze too was appointed to Senate by the king. It will also be
Gamedze’s third term in the position.

All senior positions in the Swaziland Parliament have now
been filled following the national election in September 2013. None of them
were elected by the people.

The Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Assembly,
the President and Deputy President of Senate were all appointed to Parliament
by the king, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

All political parties were banned from contesting the
election in September. The people were only allowed to contest 55 of the 65
seats in the House of Assembly. King Mswati appointed the other 10. The king
appointed 20 of the 30-strong Senate House. The other 10 were elected by
members of the House of Assembly. None were elected by the people.

Following the election on 20 September two independent
international organisations that monitored the poll separately called for the
Swaziland Constitution to be rewritten.

The African
Union mission reported the Swaziland Constitution guaranteed ‘fundamental
rights and freedoms including the rights to freedom of association’, but in
practice, ‘rights with regard to political assembly and association are not
fully enjoyed’.

The AU urged Swaziland to review the Constitution,
especially in the areas of ‘freedoms of conscience, expression, peaceful
assembly, association and movement as well as international principles for free
and fair elections and participation in electoral process.’

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

The African Union (AU) mission that observed Swaziland’s
national elections has called for fundamental changes in the kingdom to ensure people
have freedom of speech and of assembly.

In a preliminary report
on the election just released, the AU said the Swaziland Constitution guaranteed
‘fundamental rights and freedoms including the rights to freedom of association’,
but in practice, ‘rights with regard to political assembly and association are
not fully enjoyed’.

The AU said this was because political parties were not
allowed to contest elections in Swaziland. The most recent took place on 20
September 2013.

The AU’s comments follow those of the Commonwealth
Observer Mission that also observed the election. In
its report on the election, the Commonwealth called for Swaziland’s Constitution
to be rewritten to reduce the powers of King Mswati III, who rules as an
absolute monarch.

The AU urged Swaziland to review the Constitution,
especially in the areas of ‘freedoms of conscience, expression, peaceful assembly,
association and movement as well as international principles for free and fair
elections and participation in electoral process.’

The AU called on Swaziland to implement the African
Commission’s Resolution

on Swaziland in 2012 that called on the Government, ‘to
respect, protect and fulfil the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of
association and freedom of assembly.’

The AU also said women constituted more than 50 percent
of the population of Swaziland and called on the kingdom to take measures and
develop mechanisms to achieve increased representation of women and physically
challenged persons in elective public positions in accordance with the
Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights
of Women in Africa and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women.

This is in
addition to the two princes, a princess and three members of his own
Dlamini clan he appointed to the House
of Assembly earlier this month (October 2013).

King Mswati, who
rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, chooses 20 of
the 30 members of the Swazi Senate. The other 10 are elected by members of the House
of Assembly. None are elected by the people.

The king also
appoints 10 members of the 65-strong House of Assembly. The others are selected
by the people. Political parties are banned from taking part in the election.

The appointment of
his family to the Senate and the House strengthen the king’s control over what
happens in the Swaziland Parliament. It is widely acknowledged outside of
Swaziland that the parliament has no real powers and will not do anything that
displeases the king.

In addition to
appointing six of his own family to the Senate, King Mswati also appointed four
chiefs and one acting chief. In Swaziland chiefs are the personal representatives
of the king in their local areas. They are seen as the eyes and ears of the king
and often delegate his powers to themselves.

King Mswati also
reappointed his staunch
supporter Barnabas Dlamini to a third term in office as prime minister.
Dlamini, a member of the king’s clan, was not elected to parliament.

Monday, 28 October 2013

As expected Barnabas Dlamini has been reappointed Prime
Minister of Swaziland by King Mswati III.

Dlamini was not elected to the Swazi Parliament. Instead,
King Mswati, who rules as an absolute monarch, appointed him to the House of
Assembly, so in-turn, he could reappoint him Prime Minister. Dlamini had been PM for the whole of the five-year
Parliament that ended last month (September 2013). He had also been PM for
seven and a half years until 2003.

Dlamini is a controversial figure, recognised internationally
as an enemy of freedom and seen even inside Swaziland as incompetent, untrustworthy and vain.

His incompetence can been seen all over Swaziland, where
seven in ten people live in the grip of abject poverty, earning less than US$2
a day. Three in ten people are so malnourished they are moving from hunger to
starvation and the kingdom has the worst record for the number people with HIV
in the whole world. On top of that, TB and measles are at epidemic proportions
in Swaziland.

But, instead of putting forward policies to help the
Swazi people, Dlamini spent much of his time in office feathering his own nest.
A blatant
land-scam, where he and government colleagues bought for themselves land
belonging to the Swazi people, only failed to go to court because King Mswati
personally ordered it should not.

Dlamini also has personal
share-holding in companies, including Swazi Empowerment (Pty) Limited
(SEL), which in turn has shares in the MTN cellphone company. This means he has
a personal
vested interest in many business decisions his government takes.

Dlamini is untrustworthy. The most blatant example was in
April 2011 when he called a press conference and lied to the media that he had
secured a ‘letter
of comfort’ from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This letter would demonstrate to world finance organisations, such as the World
Bank and the African Development Bank, that Swaziland’s economy was sound and
the kingdom could be trusted with loans. The news was greeted as a triumph and
published all over the world. But, the letter did not exist. It was a
fabrication.

Dlamini was also exposed as a fraud in October 2010 when
he allowed his government to alter an official report for the United Nations
that stated that Swaziland was behind in its efforts to meet Millennium Goals
on alleviating poverty.The doctored
report was changed so instead of saying the Swaziland Government
was ‘not likely’ to meet the target of ‘eradication of extreme poverty and
hunger’ it read that it could ‘potentially’ meet the target.

As well as being incompetent and untrustworthy, Dlamini
is also vain. In October 2010 he accepted a ‘World Citizen Award’. Even though
before the award ceremony took place the world’s media exposed
the organisers as conmen and the award as fake, Dlamini nonetheless
flew first-class with an entourage from Swaziland to the Bahamas, to accept the
award. Even when he was told to his face that he had been conned, he refused to acknowledge it,
humiliating both himself and Swaziland on the world stage.

The Swazi people recognised Dlamini was not worthy to
lead the kingdom. In October 2012 the Swazi House of Assembly passed a vote
of no-confidence in him and his government. According to the constitution, King Mswati was obliged to sack him. But
the king defied the constitution and Dlamini remained in office.

The House vote of no-confidence was not isolated. In
August 2012 the Sibaya,
a rather quaint excuse for democracy in Swaziland where ordinary people gather
at a cattle byre to air their views on matters of importance to them, told
Dlamini and his government to quit. The people said they were corrupt and
destroying the kingdom.

King Mswati claims Sibaya is the supreme policy-making
body in the land because it demonstrates the peoples’ will. But, again, he
ignored the voice of the people and stuck by Dlamini.

The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), the
best known of Swaziland’s banned pro-democracy groups, has welcomed a report
from a Commonwealth mission calling
for the kingdom to democratise.

The Commonwealth Observer Mission observed the national
election held in Swaziland in September and said they were not entirely
credible.

In a report, the group called for the constitution to be
reviewed and for the influence in political affairs of King Mswati III, who
rules as an absolute monarch, to be reduced.

PUDEMO in a statement said, ‘It has validated our
position and critique to say we can`t talk of credibility, fairness and
democracy for a process which does not allow for political parties, separation
of powers, freedom of the media, gender equity and democracy as a modern
standard.’

PUDEMO was among a number of groups and individuals that
boycotted the election held on 20 September 2013 under a political system known
as ‘Tinkhundla’.

Politcal parties were banned from taking part and the
people were only permitted to select 55 of the 65 members of the House of Assembly.
King Mswati appointed the remaining 10. None of the 30 members of the Senate
House are elected by the people. The House of Assembly elects 10 and the other
20 are appointed by the king.

PUDEMO said, ‘We are happy that our arguments and
position on the elections has been vindicated and shall stand the test of time
as long as the elections are held under the undemocratic, discredited and
condemned Tinkhundla system of governance.’

Friday, 25 October 2013

Commonwealth observers have called for Swaziland’s
Constitution to be rewritten after they concluded the kingdom’s national
election in September 2013 was not entirely credible.

The call came in the official report of the Commonwealth Observer
Mission just circulated.

The report says members of parliament ‘continue to have
severely limited powers’ and political parties are banned.

The Commonwealth observers said there was ‘considerable room
for improving the democratic system’.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s
last absolute monarch.

They called for King Mswati’s powers to be reduced. ‘The
presence of the monarch in everyday political life inevitably associates the institution
of monarchy with politics, a situation that runs counter to the development
that the re-establishment of the Parliament and the devolution of executive
authority into the hands of elected officials.’

The report said the Constitution needed to be revisited with
an open debate on what changes were necessary.

It added, ‘This should ideally be carried out through a
fully inclusive, consultative process with all Swazi political organisations and
civil society (if needed, with the help of constitutional experts.’

It said, ‘The aim is to ensure that Swaziland’s commitment
to political pluralism is unequivocal.’

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Swaziland’s King Mswati III is expected to
reappoint Barnabas Dlamani, as his Prime Minister, despite his appalling civil
rights record.

The king has summoned his subjects
to the Cattle Byre at Ludzidzini for ‘sibaya’, a people’s parliament which he
claims is the supreme policy making body in Swaziland.

At the meeting on Monday (28 October 2013), King Mswati is
expected to announce his choice of PM.

The king rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch and he chooses the PM and the government, as
well as the majority of members of the Senate.

Dlamini, was outgoing PM of the Swazi parliament that ended
on 20 September. Dlamini did not stand for election to parliament this time and
has never been elected to public office.

Dlamini has a poor human rights record going back more than
a decade, but he is known to be close to King Mswati. In October 2012, the
House of Assembly passed
a vote of no-confidence in Dlamini and his government and according to the
Swaziland Constitution the king was obliged (he had no discretion in the
matter) to sack the PM and government.

King Mswati did not do so and instead put pressure on the
House of Assembly to reverse its vote.

If appointed, this will be the fourth time Dlamini has
been PM of Swaziland. His record shows him as a hard man with little regard for
human rights. He supports the king in his desire to stop all dissent and brand oppositions
as ‘terrorists’.

When introducing Dlamini as the PM in 2008, King Mwsati told
him publicly to get the terrorists and all who supported them. Dlamini set
about his task with zeal. He banned four prodemocracy organisations.

His Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini told Swazis
affiliated with the political formations to resign with immediate effect or
feel the full force of the law. Under the Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA),
enacted the same year Dlamini came to power, members and supporters of these
groups could face up to 25 years in jail.

Under the draconian provisions of the STA, anyone who
disagrees with the ruling elite faces being branded a terrorist supporter.

The Attorney General stressed that the government was
after supporters of the banned organisations. Supporting an organisation, he said,
‘includes associating with such banned formations or aiding materialistic
through provision of commodities such as food and weapons.’

This happened at a time when the call for democracy in
Swaziland was being heard loudly both inside the kingdom and in the
international community.

Since 2008, the Dlamini-led Government has clamped down
on dissent. In 2011,
Amnesty International reported the ill-treatment, house searches and
surveillance of communications and meetings of civil society and political
activists. Armed police conducted raids and prolonged searches in the homes of
dozens of high profile human rights defenders, trade unionists and political
activists while investigating a spate of petrol bombings. Some of the searches,
particularly of political activists, were done without search warrants.

Amnesty reported that authorities continued to use the STA
to detain and charge political activists. The STA was also used as a basis for
search warrants and other measures to intimidate human rights defenders, trade
unionists and media workers.

Dlamini told theTimes of Swaziland newspaper he wanted, ‘to punish dissidents
and foreigners who come to the country and disturb the peace’.

But, Dlamini’s abuse of human rights did not start with
his appointment in 2008. He was a former PM and held office for seven and a
half years until 2003. While in office he gained a deserved reputation as
someone who ignored the rule of law.

In 2003, he refused to recognise two court judgements
that challenged the king’s right to rule by decree. This led to the resignation
of all six judges in the Appeal Court. The court had ruled that the king had no
constitutional mandate to override parliament by issuing his own decrees.

In a report running for more than 50,000 words, Amnesty International looked back to the years 2002 and 2003 and
identified activities of Dlamini that, ‘included the repeated ignoring of court
rulings, interference in court proceedings, intimidating judicial officers,
manipulating terms and conditions of employment to undermine the independence
of the judiciary, the effective replacement of the Judicial Services Commission
with an unaccountable and secretive body (officially known as the Special
Committee on Justice but popularly called the Thursday Committee), and the
harassment of individuals whose rights had been upheld by the courts.’

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

The King’s preferred candidate Themba Msibi was elected
unopposed as Speaker of the Swaziland House of Assembly after all other
candidates withdrew from the race.

The House of Assembly was ready to elect a Speaker but it
was adjourned for three days to allow Msibi time to get his nomination papers
entered.

The adjournment was forced by Clerk of Parliament Ndvuna
Dlamini last Thursday (17 October 2013). He said a candidate that he did not
name had not had time to submit his nomination.

The adjournment caused confusion in the Swazi Parliament
because the kingdom’s Constitution suggests the election of Speaker had to take
place at the first sitting of Parliament following a national election.

Once news that King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, wanted Msibi in place, other
candidates withdrew.

Among those withdrawing was Prince Guduza, the Speaker of
the last Parliament. He was widely thought of as the first choice of
Parliamentarians and until the King’s intervention, was expected to be elected.
He withdrew hours before the election took place on Monday.

King Mswati III had a week earlier appointed Msibi to the
House of Assembly. Msibi did not stand as a candidate in the national election
held on 20 September 2013. The king appoints 10 members of the House.

The intervention of King Mswati is not being reported in
local media, but the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s
only independent daily newspaper, reported, ‘Complete gloom enveloped the House
of Assembly when Themba Msibi was pronounced Speaker unopposed yesterday.’

In an
editorial comment, the Times said,
‘Parliament’s credibility, status and integrity have been shaken by the
preceding chaos over the election of the Speaker and the nation desperately
needs the reassurance that we have actually chosen the best people for the job
– and that they will do the best for the nation.’

The Swazi Observer,
a newspaper in effect owned by the king, ran a story recalling
Msibi’s past life. Msibi had at one
time complained that there were ‘too many foreigners’ in Swaziland. The
newspaper also reported that Msibi was once photographed by journalists with
his trousers down in a car with a woman who was not his wife. Msibi later
apologised to King Mswati for embarrassment caused.

King Mswati III of Swaziland has told his subjects that men
have lived on the moon.

He said he wanted Swazi people to be like them and also
visit the moon.

The
Observer on Saturday, a newspaper
in effect owned by the king, reported that he told an audience of admirers that
he had recently visited Houston, Texas.

The Observer
reported, ‘The challenge by the Ingwenyama [the king] which obviously
mesmerised the audience was premised by the fact that a lot of American
citizens, especially those living in Houston, Texas have visited the moon and
he said he found this unique.

‘“These Americans have something that we don’t have. I
was told when I visited that place that some of their citizens have travelled
to the moon and stayed there for about six to eight months.

‘“This is seriously fascinating and surely I would like
to see Swazis visiting the moon one day,” said the King to a loud salute of
Bayethe [Hail to the King] as the audience appreciated his sentiments,’ the
newspaper reported.

Monday, 21 October 2013

Fewer than one in four people in Swaziland say they are
completely free to say what they think, new
research has shown.

That puts Swaziland 29th out of 34 African
countries surveyed.

The report, released in Nairobi by Afrobarometer, says in
the countries where people feel least free, only about one in four feel they
have unrestricted opportunities to speak their minds. Bottom of the log are
Sudan (19 percent), Togo (21 percent), Cote d'Ivoire (21 percent), Zimbabwe (22
percent) and Swaziland (24 percent).

The Afrobarometer report was written by Professor Winnie
Mitullah, director of the Institute for Development Studies at the University
of Nairobi, and Paul Kamau, senior research fellow at the same institute.

In a news release
issued with the report, Afrobarometer said, ‘Where people feel that they are
free to say what they want, they also report that their leaders are more
trustworthy and less corrupt than do their peers, the survey shows.

‘Freedom of expression is also consistently linked to better ratings of
government performance, especially with respect to government effectiveness in
fighting corruption, but also in other sectors such as maintaining roads and managing
the economy.’

Researchers interviewed more than 51,000 people in 34 countries for the survey.

The report revealed that in Swaziland 51 percent of people
surveyed supported the statement, ‘Media should have freedom to publish.’A total of 47 percent supported the
statement, ‘Government should control the media.’

Saturday, 19 October 2013

Following speculation that King Mswati III had interfered
in the election of Speaker of the House of Assembly in Swaziland, his
supposed preferred candidate Themba Msibi has announced he will run for
the office.

Swaziland’s Parliament was thrown into confusion on Thursday
(17 October 2013) when Ndvuna Dlamini, the Clerk to Parliament, adjourned the
election for House Speaker without a vote being taken.

The next day Msibi announced he would
run for the office. Meanwhile, two other candidates, the well-known dissident
writer Mfomfo Nkhambule Patrick ‘Pha’ Motsa said they
would withdraw from the contest.

This leaves the election as a straight run off
between the outgoing Speaker Prince Guduza and Msibi.

The SSN reported Guduza had been the
parliamentarians’ first choice, but King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, objected.

In a statement, SSN said, ‘He [the king] has also issued his
famous threat that should Msibi not be elected as Speaker, he will not open
parliament next year. He has done this in the past when Marwick Khumalo was
elected Speaker.’

Friday, 18 October 2013

Swaziland’s House of Assembly failed to elect a Speaker
on Thursday (17 October 2013) amid allegations that King Mswati III’s preferred
choice was not to be selected.

Clerk to Parliament Ndvuna Dlamini adjourned the House before
a vote could take place.

The House had met for the first time since the national
election last month and first order of business was to swear in the new members
of parliament. This went without a problem, but the House fell into disarray
when it was asked to elect a Speaker of the House, before moving on to elect 10
members of the Senate House.

According to local media reports Ndvuna
Dlamini told the House that not all the paperwork relating to the election of
senators had been completed and this would delay the election, meaning that
both could not be completed in one day. Clerk Dlamini said this
would be unprocedural and after some confusion he adjourned the House.

Later, the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a South
African based group campaigning fordemocratic reform in Swaziland, where King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, issued a statement saying the postponement of
the election of Speaker had been had been made to appease the king.

SSN said most of the new members of parliament wanted the
former Speaker of Parliament, Prince Guduza to be re-elected, but the king was
opposed to their choice, ‘as he has a personal vendetta against his
half-brother, stemming from their own family squabbles’.

The king’s preferred candidate for the position is a
former senator and minister, Themba Msibi, SSN said.

SSN said, ‘The clerk to parliament was ordered by the
king's henchmen to flee the parliament building in order to ensure that the
election process did not occur that afternoon [Thursday].

‘After he had fled, the parliamentarians were told that
the elections had been postponed till Monday due to the sudden and inexplicable
disappearance of the parliament clerk.

‘Mswati has since summoned his ten appointed members of
parliament to his palace where he issued orders that they use the next four
days to bribe, intimidate and blackmail the members of parliament to vote for
his preferred candidate, Themba Msibi. He has also issued his famous threat
that should Msibi not be elected as Speaker, he will not open parliament next
year. He has done this in the past when Marwick Khumalo was elected Speaker.’

But, its authors think this number could be a ‘gross
underestimate’ because it only refers to known cases.

The report called the Global Slavery Index 2013 and
published by the Walk Free Foundation states, ‘Modern slavery includes slavery,
slavery-like practices (such as debt bondage, forced marriage, and sale or exploitation
of children), human trafficking and forced labour.’

Swaziland ranks at number 126 among 162 countries in the
world for slavery. The report estimates there are 29.8 million people in modern
slavery across the world.

Looking at the global situation, the report states some
victims are captured or kidnapped before being sold or kept for exploitation,
whether through ‘marriage’, unpaid labour, or as domestic workers.

‘Others are tricked and lured into situations they cannot
escape, with false promises of a good job or an education.’

The report states, ‘The chains of modern slavery are not
always physical – sometimes escalating debts, intimidation, deception,
isolation, fear or even a “marriage” that is forced on a young woman or girl
without her consent can be used to hold a person against their will without the
need for locks or chains.

‘Modern slavery is poorly understood, so it remains
hidden within houses, communities and worksites.’

It adds, ‘Modern slavery involves an extreme abuse of
power, which is not always immediately apparent but requires understanding the people
and the relationships involved.’

Thursday, 17 October 2013

King Mswati III of Swaziland and his family have been
likened to an ‘organised crime syndicate’ for the way they take money from the
Swazi people.

The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) has launched a
campaign to cut all financing of the king.

Announcing its Red October Campaign, the CPS said the
money spent by King Mswati, who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch, should be diverted for reconstruction and development of Swaziland.

Kenneth Kunene, CPS General Secretary, called for ‘an end
to decades of systemic abuse and neglect of the Swazi people’.

Launching a campaign called ‘Not another cent for Mswati’
Kunene said, ‘Mswati must not receive another cent from the state or from the
funds he is supposed to be “holding in trust for the Swazi nation” – the
euphemistic term that is a smokescreen to hide Mswati’s corrupt seizure of
national wealth.

Mswati’s predecessor, Sobhuza II, created the funds in the
1970s to sustain the absolute monarchy into the future.

‘There is no accountability concerning these funds, no
parliamentary oversight of them, and none of them figure in the national budget
or in any official information on state resources.

‘The largest such fund, Tibiyo Taka Ngwane is an
investment fund with shares in companies, industry, real estate, and tourism.
It has 50 percent ownership of Ubombo Sugar Limited, the Swazi branch of the
Illovo Sugar Group. It also has shares in Nedbank Swaziland, Swazispa Holdings
Ltd., the Swaziland Development and Finance Group, the Royal Swaziland Sugar
Corp., and Bhunu Mall.

Kunene estimated the value of Tibiyo at US$2 billion.

He added, ‘The second source of Mswati’s illicit income
is Tisuka Taka Ngwane, which is a residential and commercial property
developer.

‘Both funds account for some 50 percent of the Swazi
economy.’

Kunene said, ‘That poverty and disease are such blights
on the lives of the Swazi people is directly and incontrovertibly linked to
Mswati’s sources of income.

‘We think it is high time that everything held in trust
for the Swazi nation is now handed over to the people. Mswati has done a bad
job at holding it in trust for us. The country needs its wealth back, and the
CPS is calling on people to demand what is theirs.’

The Red October Campaign also demands that the R400
million (US$40 million) given to the royal family each year from the state budget
be immediately cancelled.

‘Mswati and his family are no different than an organized
crime syndicate,’ said Kunene. ‘And the way you deal with organized crime is to
cut off its access to ready cash. That way it will shrivel up and die. And
that’s what we want to see happen with the Mswati regime.’

The CPS said the campaign would focus on ‘making people
in Swaziland aware of the vast drain on the country’s finances in order to
sustain the Mswati autocracy’.

It will lobby businesses in South Africa and other
countries that have operations in Swaziland to refuse to pay any revenue or ‘bribes’
to Mswati.

Kunene said, ‘The CPS will also expose the links between
Mswati’s wealth and the degradation and impoverishment of the people of
Swaziland. It will point out what the money Mswati gets each month could do if
directed to social, health and education needs – all vastly underfunded – and
how a strategy to provide free ARVs and TB treatment for all could be funded
from Mswati’s ill-gotten millions.’

In January 2009,
he told the Times he was taken in
by state police. ‘They questioned me over the articles I have been writing. I was also
warned that the articles were now taking a subversive slant and cautioned me
that I was now skating on thin ice.’

The Times reported, ‘He said
they impressed upon him that the articles were no longer just a column but were
starting to hit on the authorities and could incite people to revolt against
the head of state and this was beginning to pose a security threat.’

‘Nkhambule said the officers informed him that as much as the
country had a new constitution, there were still laws that could be used
against him, which were enacted before independence and they had very serious
consequences.’

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter reported
at the time that the Times’ Managing Editor Martin Dlamini denied he was
under any pressure from state authorities. Dlamini said Nkhambule’s column had
simply been affected by the routine changes the newspaper was making with
regards to content.

Nkhambule told MISA that he personally took his article to the Times
for publication but was told of the ban without reasons being given.

‘I then received information from other quarters that authorities have
ordered the Times to stop publishing my articles. Whatever threat they
received might have been very serious as they simply told me that my articles
will no longer be published with no reasons being given,’ he said.

The ban on Nkhambule came in the same week that the Times was
forced to make an abject apology to King Mswati after publishing an
essentially correct report that he had purchased up to 20 armoured cars for the
use of himself and his wives.

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

The Clerk to the Swaziland Parliament Ndvuna Dlamini
threatened to call police after newly-elected MPs challenged him on his
understanding of standing orders.

The MPs have to elect a Speaker of the House of Assembly
and had sought guidance on the correct procedures to do this.

But when the MPs questioned the Clerk’s interpretation
and asked him to show the exact standing order that dealt with the issue Dlamini
turned on them.

‘If there is an MP who does not respect me I will call
the police to come pick him up,’ the Times
of Swaziland newspaper reported Dlamini saying.

At no point did the new MPs become rowdy or disrespectful,
according to the Times. The Clerk decided
not to answer further questions.

Parliament is due to resume soon following the election
of 55 new MPs on 20 September 2013.

There is confusion in the kingdom as to whether Swaziland
has a Prime Minister. Barnabas Dlamini, PM until the election, had his term in
office extended by King Mswati III until 4 October. Dlamini
was appointed as and MP to the House of Assembly by the King (he did not
stand at the election) last week and is widely tipped in Swazi media to be
reappointed Prime Minister.

MPs questioned on Monday (14 October 2013) whether
Barnabas Dlamini was still PM, even though the deadline for the extension of his
term in office had expired.

The Times reported that Barnabas Dlamini was at
the House of Assembly to meet the new MPs. He had at least eight state security
officers protecting him, leading to speculation that, Dlamini, at least, believes
he is still PM.